UK solar installations hit 15-year high with 142,536 added in first

Great Britain recorded 142,536 new solar power installations in the first half of 2026, the highest six-month total since the second half of 2011, as households sought to cut energy bills amid soaring fossil fuel costs triggered by the US-Israel war against Iran.

Households drove the boom, with most installations on rooftops, but these smaller systems account for just under a third of total solar capacity.

E.ON Next, which is expected to become the UK’s largest energy retailer, reported a 151% increase in home solar installations compared with the first half of 2025. Octopus Energy, the current largest supplier, saw solar panel sales jump 54% in March 2026 from the previous month, after the conflict pushed up prices.

Phil Gilbert, a director at E.ON Next, said some customers save up to £600 a year on energy bills by using the company’s solar and battery tariff.

The government raised heat pump grant funding by 20% in late July 2026, from £7,500 to £9,000, and Andy Burnham cut VAT on electricity bills from October 2026, making heat pumps cheaper to run.

Applications for the boiler upgrade scheme, which offers grants to replace gas boilers with low-carbon heating, reached 4,512 in June 2026, a 21% increase from June 2025.

Large-scale solar farms continue to expand. The 373MW Cleve Hill project in Kent reached full power in the summer of 2025, and the 800MW Springwell farm in Lincolnshire is set to begin generating in 2029.

By the end of August 2026, legislation passed in July 2026 will allow people in flats or rented properties to install “balcony solar panels,” a practice already used by millions across Europe to lower bills.

In total, Great Britain now has more than 2 million solar installations.